lamontagne0527 wrote:looks like a gorgeous stock and seems to shoot very well. Its a shame that the mum is gone. even one with the circle stamps is preferable to that botch job. At least in my opinion.

I have its twin, same series. I've used both 140 gr. and 120 gr. bullets with 3031 powder.

3031 is a good common powder up here in Canada, do the bolts match on the rifle? mine does and i believe the cover does too, its a very faint number on the cover. Mine i got here in Canada for 450 with bayonet. Not bad up here since some ive seen for 900 plus but thats because they arent very common as in the US. Mine i only got because it was a private sale and the guy was one city over from me. He had 5 other offers but all were out of province and he didnt want to ship. I got lucky with mine

I just bought from nrobertb,the older brother to yours. Same series but 15,000 serial number range.( 1936 early '37?) not sure of the exact year.
I lucked out and the chamber is not as over-sized as the once fired brass I was given . My test firing only shows a very slight bulge.
I'm going to do a range test at 500 yards this Sunday if the weather permits,200 yards if it is nasty out.
I've been wanting to do a steel plate penetration test with a 6.5 Jap for years now. I started with the 6.5 Dutch and was so impressed with it almost going through a 1" thick steel plate at 200 yards I tried the other 6.5 rifles in my collection as well and was amazed how hard and deep they penetrate cold rolled steel.
I would think the 6.5 Jap firing the same weight and type bullet will also do very well.
As you may know the over stabilized and penetration capabilities of the 6.5 bullets were their downfall. They just went through the enemy. Unless bone or an organ was hit,little damage was done. The Britts called a 6.5 Carcano wound an " inney outey"
As for the later spitzer bullet in the 6.5 Jap I can find no real info on wounds they produced.
Have you slugged the bore yet? Which bullet diameter are you using? I'm writing an article or 6.5 rifle bores and what/which bullets perform the best accuracy at long range.
Nice rifle you got,good shooting too.

Tin Can Sailor
'Nam Vet
NRA Endowment Member
President New Mexico Military Surplus Rifle Pistol Shooters